"I Live in Your World, You Play in Mine." #HAWMC

The quote "I Live in Your World, you Play in Mine" actually is made up by myself. As I worked for Sony's PlayStation Store, they came out with a tagline of "You live in your World, You play in Ours". Or something like that. and I took it and made something new and kind of different.

The quote made me feel like I was taking back the stigma of being labeled "abnormal" in a "normal" world. It also was something that if I said it, people would think it sounded familiar, but not too familiar (so I wouldn't get sued by Sony). I use it today in my GMail Signature, however sometimes I delete it because I don't know how "normal" people would perceive the tagline especially coming from an adult that they know nothing about.

Though video games have saved me from going completely off the deep end. Say what you will about violent video games, but playing 30-40 minutes of Grand Theft Auto (in extreme cases) or Ratchet and Clank (which I play more often) has been very cathartic and allowed me to vent anger, frustration and act on feelings that I would not and could not act on in real life. See Violent Video games do help when given the chance to do positive work than the negative they always seem to get when something bad happens.

Time in a Bottle #HAWMC

The time 1:00 PM GMT, April 1, 2112, the place some where in the desert of what was known as the San Francisco Bay Area. The great archaeological find of the year has been unearthed due to construction of a major farm that promises to restore the great valleys of California due to the Cities of San Francisco and Los Angels being moved towards Hawaii in the great earthquake of 2100 dramatically shifting the ecosystem of .

One of the finds that was thought to be an inhabited area; scientists found a Time Capsule from the year 2012. As they took it back to their field lab, the box sprang open and a small note was at the top:

Dear Future,

Please do not judge.

I am a mother, a wife and a woman.

I have many problems.

Please look at this with an open mind,

people in this life look at Bi-Polar/Manic depression as the black death.

We are people just like you.

Yours Truly, Amanda

As they look onward they find sealed gallon zip-lock bags full of Medical journals, papers, finding and other documentation of the definitions and treatments of the condition. Some from the early 20th Century, which document the treatments of shock therapy for this "Bi-Polar/Manic" type of depression. In pill bottles they find little pink pills with the instructions on how to take the pills 3 times a day of a substance called Lithium, another dozen bottles of pills called Zoloft, Wellbutrin and Prozac, to name a few. a journal that documented the struggles of the woman called "Amanda". A USB device that once open, showed a website long forgotten. Reading it they found the struggles this person went through as a woman with depression. Struggling with the stigma and the necessity of keeping it quiet from the people in the "Normal World". And a few photographs of what looks to be a very healthy family of four laughing at what seems to be a park in old San Francisco.

At first the scientific community was baffled about this discovery. Depression was wiped out by the discovery of a genetic trait that could be turned off by the nano-bots given at birth in 2102. So this discovery it showed the lack of medical knowledge of the humans living 100 years ago. It validated a few ideas that the medical community had as they theorized that back then the doctors treated the symptoms and not the root cause of the genetic disorder. They marveled at the information that this capsule provided, a wealth of misinformation, once thought of as the definitive answer by giving harsh medicine to people to alter their thinking and perception of the world to now where a simple DNA test and nano bot correction can wipe out  anything and repair the broken links.

Health Activist Writer's Month Challenge #HAWMC

My focus will be on Bi-Polar Manic Depression and some of the Postnatal depression issues. Please don't judge this as a personal experience and I will be bearing my soul.

Hey everyone - I just wanted to tell you about a new activity I'll be doing this April. The Health Activist Writer's Month Challenge hosted by WEGO Health. I will be writing a post a day for all 30 days. I hope you'll join me in writing every day about health. It's going to be a lot of fun and I'd love to see what you have to say about each of the topics, too. All you have to do to join is sign up here: http://info.wegohealth.com/HAWMC2012 and you'll be able to start posting once April rolls around. Looking forward to writing with you!

Going Back to Work - A Mother and her Breast Pumps

With many work out side the home mom's know breastfeeding is a challenge and a nightmare. Got to get the right things for working AND try to decide which pump to take back to work with you. This is my review of the two breast pumps I currently own.

I breastfed my daughter Bella for 22 months and planed on breastfeeding the new one when he or she came here. Well baby Grace came and we were able to establish a great breastfeeding relationship. The down side was my breast pump from when I pumped at work a Medela Pump In Style (the back pack kind, see picture below), was falling apart. I would think a little wear and tear after a year and a half was reasonable, however, 

This is the Pump In Style style I own

This Hygeia EnJoye Pump that I am using now

the tabs on the zippers started to fall off (my husband made a few make shift ones), and the bag in the back started to split along the seam. Also just recently, one of the face plate's prog broke. I was a bit overwhelmed to say the least. The warranty expired long ago and I wasn't too happy about the fact I could not take the motor out and place it in a new case if the bag got damaged in any way.

Like any mom about six months in to the pumping for Bella, I was looking at the latest in breast pumps, by then I was not having too much trouble with the Medela, I really liked the fact that I could transport a few things in the bag portion, but my love for the pump was over with the face plate coming off each time I pulled the tubing off. My husband didn't like the cleaning of the flanges because the membranes (little plastic tabs that helped with the suction), they would either tear or get lost when he cleaned them for me. And I came across the Hygeia EnJoye Breast Pump.

At first the jaw dropping price was around $100 more than that of the Pump In Style, but for me it offered freedom. The freedom to leave the bag behind and use many of the back packs I had. The top of the line breast pump has a Lithium Battery pack built in, so if there is no power outlets around no problem. The problem was convincing my husband that I needed something else. The Medela pump still worked, so I wasn't going to get one any time soon.

I told myself and my husband in 2011, with baby number 2 on the way I wasn't going to use the Pump In Style. The motor was still running but the bag was in bad shape. I told him that I wanted the Hygeia EnJoye Pump and showed him the website (Hygeia Baby) and gave him the bullet points:

• Enclosed Lithium battery
• Certified Recyclable parts
• Can use all of the old pumping bottles and items from Medela (I have a lot of old things in good condition still)
• Can record the baby crying on the device (no ear phone plugs though)
• And I just want it.

I bought it two weeks ago and I am in love. Wednesday was my first day using it and it was purely easy to use. I was able to pump Grace's milk in the Medela bottles and still have the Hygeia bottles for work. So I don't have to spill any milk (unless I trip) in the morning when I am groggy. It was easy to set up and I was pumping in no time flat.

More Later as I need to attend to Grace! Next post will be a Review of the new Medela Calma Nipples Grace is using for the first time this week!

Thought on a Thursday - Picture Day

 

This is Bella's first school picture that she actually posed for all by herself. Its hard to believe that the same time last year she refused to take the school picture at all. We were only able to get a small class picture with her shining face as a small dot and now look at her! I am one proud mama!

Wordless Wednesday - My Cats

in 2008

 Tweeting @BindiPuma

in 2012

Going back to work, Tomorrow

I never thought the day would come to being. Maybe in a few weeks it will be different. Maybe Grace (the youngest) will not like the arrangement and or grandma will think watching a baby is too rough on her and will have to throw in the towel. Only time will tell.

I have been getting use to the stay at home life. Sleeping in a bit, knowing that the only person to take care of is sleeping right next to you, ok maybe kicking you in the back to change her diaper; because the eldest is at daycare. Getting dressed at noon, so when the mailman comes you do not look like a wreck. Having the freedom to clean the house at what ever time is best for you, because the Netflix marathon of "Say Yes to the Dress" is great mind numbing fun.

However fun it seems to me about being the stay at home mom, the anxiety of the real world sets in fast. Bills, depression, and feeling like a failure on some level about being the mom I think my family needs.

I feel the middle ground is me working part time to be there for both kids during the week and to take some pressure off my husband with the bills. Finding my inner craft diva and tacking my husband's sewing machine to sell a few items on Etsy and this new website I found called Craftsy. And getting my Lactation Certificate to hopefully become an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) one day.

For now, I guess, I'll be back behind my desk tomorrow morning at 6 AM Pacific Daylight Time trying to stay awake thinking of Grace and how I am doing this wacky job for her and Bella and no one else.